Eisenhower tennis coach Mike Pearson is not afraid of heights.

Neither are the players on his girls’ squad.

Coach Pearson’s Ike team is ranked ninth in the state in Division 1.

Eisenhower was tied for 10^th in the preseason rankings, but the Eagles defeated Troy, 5-3, to move up.

Troy had been ranked eighth in the state. The Colts are now 10^th along with Novi.

“We are pretty good again,” said Pearson. “We have five girls back who were all in the top eight in their flight at last year’s state meet.”

Those five are sophomore Alexis Anthes, who played at number two singles last year. She is the Eagles’ top singles player now.

Senior Clare Henry and senior Samantha Souder teamed up at number two doubles last year. This season, Henry is playing number one doubles with senior Isadora Dimovski and Souder is at fourth singles.

Sisters Paige and Elle Nicholson were at three doubles at the 2018 state meet. This year, they are teaming up at second doubles. Paige is a junior and Elle is a sophomore.

While those girls are undoubtedly talented, so are the others on the team.

Despite only being a freshman, Tara Montreuil is playing number two singles. Three-year varsity player Wiktoria Szemraj, a junior, is at third singles.

Senor Natalia Pfeffer and junior Angelina Vrzovski team up at third doubles, while junior Gabby DiCesare and sophomore Kennedy Kullman are at fourth doubles.

The team also includes Aleksandra Makievski and CeCe DiCesare.

“Our depth is a strength. Obviously one of our goals is to win our fourth regional title in five years,” said

Pearson. “We want to finish higher than top 10 at the state meet. We want keep getting better. This is a really hard-working group. These are great kids. They all have a positive attitude. They are all smart, too.”

Eisenhower girls’ tennis and smart is almost redundant. The team had a cumulative 3.94 grade point average last year and the coach thinks it might be even higher this year.

“Why do you think that is?” echoed Pearson. “Maybe it is because tennis a mental sport and it attracts kids who are smart and athletic. A lot of the girls come to the sport because it is fun. Once they start playing, they have a lot of different skills to master, too.”

If the weather cooperates, Eisenhower is scheduled to welcome Port Huron Northern Wednesday. On Thursday, the Utica Community Schools tournament is on the schedule. On Saturday, the Eagles will visit Novi. Also there will be highly regarded Rockford and Port Huron Northern.